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One of my favourite places in the Pentridge compound is the BrewDog Bar. BrewDog is a Scottish brewery with a presence in Australia. BrewDog Pentridge is their one Melbourne establishment. I like how they have made it into a social and fun place but not lost sight of the heritage of the Pentridge Prison. We have visited a few times since they opened in late 2022 and love the menu with its plentiful vegetarian options.
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BrewDog is in the former E Division. This was the hospital and later housed short term priosoners when Pentridge was a Prison. The bluestone facade remains grim and intimidating with bars on the windows.
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The entrance to BrewDog is at the side and opens onto a beer garden with plants and brick walls beside blue tables and chairs.
For those interested in history : The beer garden is cleverly built to reference the Panopticon. Opticon derives from the Greek word "opsis" meaning to view. Pan is from Ancient Greek meaning all or every. The Panopticon was built in the Victorian-era Pentridge Prison with a central watchtower and yards radiating out from it for prisoners one hour of exercise a day with walls to separate them from other inmates. This enabled the guards to watch all prisoners or at least have the potential to watch them. Like a modern day security camera. Look on the ground for the marks referencing the walls of the panopticon.
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Beyond the indoor bar is an indoor restaurant area. I love all the artwork (above) on the wall as well as plants and padded seating around the walls in this section. The gorgeous heritage arched windows (below) have bars on thm (to remind you that this is prison and not play school).
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There is a corridor from the bar to the restaurant that has pinball machines in it. If you walk along it, you will pass some smaller rooms. I guess they are for private gatherings and functions. The old couches in this room looked so welcoming and cosy. I think this room has changed since I took this photo but I can guarantee it has changed even more since it houses prisoners who no doubt found it cold and unpleasant.
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I was pleased to see that they serve Heaps Normal on the drinks menu. Sometimes chips and fried food calls for beer, even if you prefer a non-alcoholic one. This is what I ordered on our first visit.
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On that occasion Sylvia drank apple juice and we ordered Fries and Mac and Cheese croquettes. They were pleasingly crispy and hot.
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I wanted to try the Buffalo cauliflower wings with garlic mayo. I enjoyed it but it was quite spicy and we took some home because we had plenty to eat.
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On our second visit we sat in the beer garden and started with a latte for Sylvia and a lemon lime and bitters for me. It is a very pleasant place to sit on a fine Spring day.
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To eat Sylvia had the Plain Jane Pizza: Napoli, mozzarella, fresh basil, Murray River sea salt and the Truffle Cheese Fries: garlic-truffle butter, parmesan, fried onion, spring onion. As you can see above the pizza came whole with a pizza cutter on the side. Sylvia was most impressed with the flavour on the fries and declares them her favourite truffle fries.
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I ordered the Eggplant pizza: basil pesto, gorgonzola, parmesan, fresh chilli, candied walnuts, basil. I loved it. The eggplant was charred and cooked through and was amazing with walnuts and pesto. I was not so keen on the chilli but it was easy enough to remove some or all of it. Like Sylvia I had to slice it myself.
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I had another visit to BrewDog with Faye. On that occasion I ordered the Buddah Bowl: broccoli, edamame, cherry tomato, charred radicchio, hummus, puffed quinoa, smoked almonds, figs and a dijon dressing. I added the option of pulled mushroom. It was a good choice. They were chewy and dense and added a lot of flavour as well as interesting texture that contrasted nicely with the fresh vegies.
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Faye had the Plant Powered Patriot Burger: Love Bud's patty, plant based bacon, cheese, onion, lettuce, BBQ sauce and pickles. The burger came with fries in a cute enamel cup but I was more impressed by its vibrant pink burger bun
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The most recent visit was towards the end of last year was with a group of colleagues. We met for an evening meal in the beer garden and booked a booth in the area called the cells. It was a cool evening towards the end of November and I was worried it might be cold outside but there were heaters as well as fairy lights!
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We ordered food to share and had so much that we took leftovers home. There was pizza, fries, chicken wings, mac and cheese croquettes, burgers and sweet potato fries. It was great to catch up with these lovely people who I have worked with intensely on events but work in different buildings. Closest in the above photo is the eggplant pizza which I highly recommend!
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As you might have seen, BrewDog prides itself on catering for different dietary preferences such as vegan. One of my colleagues is vegan and I was pleased there were some interesting options for her. She ordered the Waikiki Pizza: plant based bacon, cheese, pineapple, napoli and fresh parsley. The vegan bacon was a bit more mock meat slabs than I would prefer but I quite liked how they veganised the ham and cheese Hawaiian pizza.
So there we finish with controversy. I love pineapple on pizza but I know that you love it or you hate it and there is no in between. BrewDog also has its critics of some of their treatment of workers and bold and outlandish marketing strategies. And I know some people are uncomfortable with the gentrification of Pentridge with so much violence and suffering in its history. One friend was quite freaked out when I took her to the complex. I like to think of BrewDog as being a new chapter in a place with a fascinating history that should not be forgotten.
BrewDog Bar
Pentridge Prison,
E Building,
T101/1 Champ St, Coburg
Opening Hours: Sun-Thurs: 12:00-22:00, Fri: 13:00–00:00 Saturday: 11:00-00:00
https://www.brewdog.com/au/pentridge
Haven't been to Pentridge but went to a Brewdog near Brisbane - it was also on a vast site and we loved the menu, the beer and that it was so dog friendly. I know their employment relations have been controversial but you can't knock the food or the beer! Brewdog pubs in the UK are much smaller and the menu isn't nearly as good!
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